820 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



in. Seeds % in. long, ovate, flat, minutely crenate at the lower 

 end. (Duthie). 



Use. : — The flowers are offlcinal in the Punjab (Stewart), 



In Bombay, the dry roots given in decoction are considered 

 astringent (S. Arjun), 



776. Dcemia extensa, Br. h.f.b.l, iv. 20. 



Syn. :— Asclepias echinata, Roxb. 256. 



Sans : — Phala Kantaka, in allusion to its echinate follicles. 



Vern. :— Utran, jutuk, sagovanee (H.); Trottoo, seealee, kureal 

 (Punj.); Kharyal (Sind.) ; Chhagul-bati (B.) ; Velipparutti, utta- 

 mani (Tarn.) ; Jittupaku, gurti-chettu(Tel.) ; Halakoratige, Kun- 

 tiga; Juttiwe, Talavaranaballi. (Kan.); Utarni (Bomb); Nagala 

 dudheli (fluz) ; Utarani ; Utarancli (Mar). 



Habitat: — Throughout India, from the Salt Range and the 

 N.-W. Himalaya to Lower Bengal and Ceylon. 



A perennial foetid herb. Stems twining, more or less hispid, 

 with short spreading hair and minute prickles. Leaves 2-4in., 

 and nearly as broad, deeply cordate at base, with rounded lobes, 

 acute, slightly hairy on both sides, ciliate, thin. Flowers pale- 

 green, in long slender, pubescent pedicels. Cymes at first corym- 

 bose, afterwards racemose, peduncles coming off from between 

 the bases of petioles, much longer than leaves. Bracts linear, 

 acute. Sepals lanceolate, acute, slightly ciliate. Corolla nearly 

 fin. diam., lobes acute, hairy above, ciliate, concave, spreading. 

 Follicles 2-2^in., reflexed, long-beaked ; spines long, soft 

 (Trimen). Seeds Jin. long, broadly ovate, pubescent, margin 

 quite entire (J. D. Hooker). 



Uses : — In Southern India, a decoction of the leaves is given 

 to children as an anthelmintic ; and their juice in asthma, and, 

 combined with lime, in rheumatism (Ainslie). 



In Western India, the plant has a general reputation as an 

 expectorant and emetic. In Goa, the juice of the leaves is 

 applied to rheumatic swellings (Dymock). 



Dr. Oswald states that it is used as an expectorant in the 



